The Story of "Guss" (1979 Malibu Wagon)

[GJR80MALIBUWAGON]

Looks like a clean body. Had mine repainted in the original brown and get a lot of positive comments. Looks like the plastic pieces at each corner at the bumper
are still there. Are yours original or did you find a source? Mine are all broken or missing. Would love to know part numbers and who sells or makes them.

Thanks
Jerry

 

[Longroof79]

Looks like a clean body. Had mine repainted in the original brown and get a lot of positive comments. Looks like the plastic pieces at each corner at the bumper
are still there. Are yours original or did you find a source? Mine are all broken or missing. Would love to know part numbers and who sells or makes them.

Thanks
Jerry

Have you seen the posting for an '83 Malibu wagon being parted out? There's your source for bumper fillers right there.
I don't need them because my bumpers are narrowed and tucked... my fillers have been eliminated.

 

[fig865]

Looks like a clean body. Had mine repainted in the original brown and get a lot of positive comments. Looks like the plastic pieces at each corner at the bumper
are still there. Are yours original or did you find a source? Mine are all broken or missing. Would love to know part numbers and who sells or makes them.

Thanks
Jerry

My filler pieces are all original. Good luck with finding some for yours. What I do need to do something with is the black plastic that runs along the front and rear bumpers. As you can see, they are each missing part of them.

 

[Longroof79]

My filler pieces are all original. Good luck with finding some for yours. What I do need to do something with is the black plastic that runs along the front and rear bumpers. As you can see, they are each missing part of them.[/quote]
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I think the rubber bumper strips would be more difficult to find(new or in good usable condition) than the bumper fillers.
You're either going to have to be creative, or remove the strips entirely and weld up the holes.

 

[N3M3S1S]

That looks fantastic. Hell I think you could leave it just like that and it'd be perfect for a long time.

 

[olymalibu]

hi,
very nice car,i love the wheels
i had the same problem with the bumper rubber and
have they replace with a chrom rubber from 3M and i think it was a good choice

best regards andreas

 

[Longroof79]

Andreas,
The chrome strip looks like a good alternative. How was it able to cover the bolt heads?

 

[olymalibu]

 

[Longroof79]

:lol: :lol: I should have figured that you ground the heads down... It looks good...better than a broken/ missing rubber trim.

 

[fig865]

So, a full 2 summers have went by and I failed to get any updates posted. Visually Guss hasn't changed much. Same look but now with a little weathering of a driver. But, last spring we did the heart transplant. I got some custom exhaust made with Porter Mufflers and I loved the sound (even from the tired 267). But about a week later an exhaust manifold cracked. While replacing it I was fighting with old rusty bolts and just said screw it, motor swap. My old race motor had been sitting in the garage for a couple years but is now in the wagon. We had to use stock carbs when I raced and I preferred the response and control of the old Rochester 2GC so that's what I used all last summer. I'm thinking a new 4bbl might be needed soon as I have an Edelbrock intake already waiting. While Guss runs a little rich it drives nice and I still have no problem going on a 1000 mile road trip at the drop of a hat.

Next up, I'm thinking of doing the following:
- Electric fan upgrade. (I'm just tired of how noisy my mechanical fan is)
- New carburetor (Just finding it hard to spend the money on it when the 2bbl runs fine)
- Tint windows to cool it down a bit and hide the interior a little.
- Do something with the bumper trim (I like the idea Andreas posted earlier in this thread)
- Little maintenance stuff like dash lights that have burnt out and tighten or replace the tilt column that has gotten sloppy.

If you can't tell, I'm excited to bring Guss out for the summer. He'll be back on the MN roads next weekend.